Favorite Schools

Favorite Teams

Worst president ever? How about worst Congress ever?: Farmer

Obama-economy.jpg

Public opinion polls on the president usually reflect voters' current discontentment with the country. But media outlets may be to blame for the public's opinion of Obama, as they report the bad (Obama's negative reception) more than the good (the economy's recent uptick and job growth).
(Getty Images)

A Quinnipiac University poll has awarded President Obama the title "worst president since the end of World War II." It’s a bit like being tarred and feathered and, as Abe Lincoln observed, if it wasn’t for the honor you’d just as soon skip the recognition.

It’s a notable distinction considering that the roster of those available includes Jimmy Carter, tossed out in a re-election rout, and George W. Bush, who got us into one of the most ill-advised, longest and costliest wars in our history. Oh, and did I mention Richard M. Nixon?

Obama, in short, beat a formidable field of contenders for the title.

Actually, it didn’t require a poll to inform us Obama is unpopular. Republicans have been spreading that message since the day he was inaugurated in 2009 and, as professional message manipulators have proved, if you say something long and loud enough, lots of folks will believe it.

The result is tarnished by the history of such polls: In almost every case, the sitting president ranks at or near the worst, reflecting the discontent of the moment.

The worst aspect of the poll for Obama — and for Democrats this fall — was his poor approval among independents, the decisive cohort in any close election. Among Republicans he’s viewed as the devil incarnate, but then they’ve despised him from Day One; it’s in the Republican DNA to oppose any Democrat and that’s understandable. But even among Democrats he slipped.

So, let’s stipulate that, whatever the cause, Obama’s unpopular, maybe even very unpopular. But what does that say about the rest of our ruling class in Washington?

The most striking message from that poll and others is that, as bad off as he might be, Obama’s more popular than either party and especially more popular than Congress. No institution connected with our federal government draws more scorn and loathing than Congress.

One is tempted to suggest that if we did at the federal level what cities and states do occasionally — recall whole slates of elected officials — a federal recall drive this fall would sweep out the Augean stables of the Republican-run House and a goodly share of Democrats in the Senate, as well.

Sounds tempting, doesn’t it? There might even be dancing in the streets at word that this Congress has finally had done to it what it’s been doing to the country during the Obama years.

That would, of course, leave us without a national government, but then we haven’t got a functioning one now, you say. True, but there’s always the off chance — the hope, if you will — that our pampered princes and princesses of privilege on Capitol Hill will ultimately take Spike Lee’s advice and do the right thing. Or at least do something.

The odds aren’t good. If the pundits are correct, Republicans will win big in November, increasing their majority in the House and capturing the Senate, confirming their belief that doing nothing — or at least making sure Obama can do nothing — is a winning ticket.

If that happens, we could see a reversal of the roles Obama and congressional Republicans have played these past 5½ years.

Up till now it’s been Republicans blocking most of what Obama wanted. If the GOP runs both houses of Congress after November, it will be Obama using the veto pen to scuttle the latest loony Republican initiative.

It’s a lose-lose scenario that will end only with the 2016 presidential election and a new start for everybody.

Into this whirlwind of bad news came word last week that the economy has been on a tear: Five straight months of job growth, unemployment down to 6.1 percent (lowest since before the recession), the dollar strengthening and the stock market at an all-time high.

How did this good news slip by us unnoticed?

Well, primarily because no one was looking for it, certainly not our vaunted economists. The number of new jobs exceeded the consensus forecast of professional economists by about 70,000 — or by more than 30 percent. They weren’t in the ballpark; hell, they weren’t even in the same city.

Then there are the media, especially cable TV and its melancholy addiction to bad news.